HISARNA: GAME CHANGER

IN THE STEEL INDUSTRY

Taking care of the community and environment is one of
Tata Steel’s core values. We are committed to help create
innovative process and product research & development.

Reducing energy consumption and carbon
emissions are essential for our company,
because they not only help combat climate
change, but also significantly reduce
production costs, thus improving our global
competitive position.
Carbon emissions are inevitable in the steel
production process, because you need carbon
to produce liquid iron, which is produced in
a chemical process. The carbon atoms bind
the oxygen atoms present in iron ore (which
is basically iron oxide), to produce pure liquid
iron and carbon. The European steel industry
has made significant progress reducing carbon
emissions to a minimum. Currently Tata Steel
emits 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne
of steel produced in IJmuiden. That is a world
class performance. In other parts of the world
up to 4 tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted
per tonne of steel produced.
Though it is still possible to find ways of
further reducing energy use and carbon
emissions, in Europe, we are reaching the
limits of current technology. Achieving
further significant reductions is only possible
by developing revolutionary breakthrough
technologies.
In 2004 a group of
European steel compa-
nies and research institutes formed ULCOS,
which stands for Ultra-Low Carbon Dioxide
Steelmaking. Its purpose was to identify
technologies that might help reduce carbon
emissions of steelmaking by 50% per tonne
by 2050. HIsarna is one of those technologies,
shows great promise and is the most advanced
of the ULCOS technologies.

HIsarna:
Shows commitment of
European steel industry to
radically and structurally
lower CO2 emissions
Lowers process costs
Reduces energy use by at
least 20%
Reduces carbon emissions
by 20%
Enables a more resource
efficient process
Is ideally suited for Carbon
Capture and Storage
HIsarna factsheet

World class
Tata Steel in IJmuiden is a world class
performer in making sustainable steel, with
the lowest possible energy use and CO2
emissions. Tata Steel is also leading the way
in the field of developing new breakthrough
technologies to make significant future
progress in further improving production
sustainability.

Game changer
HIsarna is a new technology, designed and
developed at Tata Steel in IJmuiden, which will
allow for future steel production with at least
20% lower CO2 emissions. This technology can
become a game changer that significantly
improves steel production sustainability
performance. Scientists and steel companies
from all over the world are closely monitoring
the development of HIsarna. make this obsolete. In the HIsarna installation To develop and test this technology a pilot
the raw materials can be injected as powders, plant has been built at the IJmuiden site.
Up to 80% CO2 reduction directly converting them into liquid iron. If Since 2011 this pilot plant has been through
HIsarna is a substitute for the blast furnace HIsarna can be successfully developed at an four test campaigns. The tests so far have been
process. To make liquid iron in a blast furnace industrial scale, future production of steel promising.
iron ore and metallurgical coal (the raw with a 20% smaller carbon footprint will be Tata Steel and its project partners have
materials) need to be preprocessed into sinter possible. Using Carbon Capture and storage succeeded in proving that the process works.
(lumps of iron ore) and pellets (small balls of or Carbon Capture and Use can lead to a 80% The pilot plant has produced liquid iron, which
iron ore) and cokes. The HIsarna process will smaller carbon footprint. has successfully been processed into steel.

PILOT PLANT
1
Alternative raw
materials storage silos
2
2
Off-gas duct
4
3
Gas cooler 5 7
3 6
Coal and lime storage
4
silos 1
5
Cooling towers
8
6
Bag filter
9 13 14
7
Secondary dedusting
10
8
Smelting cyclone 11
Smelting reduction
9
vessel 12

10
Fore hearth
11
Control room
12
Coal grinding, drying
and screening
13 Ore drying and

screening
16
14
Raw materials storage
15
15
Offices
16
Workshop

HIsarna has been jointly developed with
mining company Rio Tinto. Currently Tata
Steel, Rio Tinto, ArcelorMittal, ThyssenKrupp,
Voestalpine and technology supplier Paul
Wurth are jointly working on testing and
further developing the HIsarna technology.
If the technology can be developed
successfully on an industrial scale, it will take
ten years to reach the stage of commercial
use. Then the technology can be applied
in greenfield situations. At exisiting steel
production sites the current technology will
gradually be phased out.
Need for support
Funding breakthrough technologies is a
burden the European steel industry cannot
face alone, given the huge sums involved, the
tough European economic market conditions
and the global competition with companies
that are not faced with emission trading
schemes, carbon taxes and high energy and
labour costs. European steel companies are
at a severe disadvantage as long as there
is no global competitive level playing field.
Financial support from the European Union is
indispensable if the European steel industry
is to successfully develop breakthrough
production technologies.
A six-month HIsarna test campaign has started
in October 2017. The objective of this test is to
prove that the installation can produce liquid
iron for long, sustained periods of time. This
campaign will cost about 25 million euros.
Next stage
If this test is successful, the project can enter
the next stage: the crucial stage of designing,
constructing and testing a large-scale pilot
plant. This will need an investment of 300
million euros. Once it has been built, the large
pilot plant will have to go through several
years of testing. The industrial size plant will
be two to three times the size of the current
facility, capable of making up to 10 times more
liquid iron.
HIsarna factsheet
ADVANTAGES OF HISARNA
Reduced manufacturing costs
The HIsarna production process is more efficient than the current one, as there is no need
to preprocess ores and metallurgical coal. A complete production stage can be phased out:
coking plants, sinter plants and pellet plants. This will also save a lot of energy, which is good
for the environment and will lower manufacturing costs. HIsarna also enables the use of a
wider range of ore and coal qualities, which will allow steel companies to produce the same
high quality steels using cheaper and more widely available raw materials.
Better for the environment
HIsarna’s most important environmental benefits are the reduction of energy use and CO2
emissions by at least 20%. Since the HIsarna installation produces almost 100% pure CO2,
this CO2 is ideally suited for immediate capture and storage, without the need for a costly
refining process. If governments choose to opt for this strategy, capturing and storing CO2
could lead to an 80% reduction of CO2 from the steel production process. HIsarna also allows
for a wider range of steel production by-products to be reused, which will further close the
loop of the steel manufacturing process. An additional advantage of HIsarna is the reduction
of the emission of fine particles, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
How HIsarna works HIsarna consists of a reactor with
temperatures above the melting point
of iron throughout the vessel, so that the
Top gas injected iron ore instantly melts and converts
into liquid iron. In the HIsarna furnace
temperatures are above the melting point
of iron throughout the reactor. The process
Ore gasses in the melting vessel have a high
Oxygen temperature. At the top of the reactor (in
Oxygen the cyclone) the temperature is increased
further by adding pure oxygen, which reacts
with the carbon monoxide present. Because
of the turbulence in the cyclone there is
Coal enough contact time for the hot gas to melt
the iron ore (which is injected at the top). The
iron ore immediately melts and drips into
the bottom of the vessel. That is where the
Slag powder coal is injected, causing the oxygen
from the iron ore (= iron oxide) to
bind with the carbon, thus creating
Hot metal
pure liquid iron, which can then be
tapped.
Blast Furnace HIsarna
Coal Iron ore
Hot metal Hot metal
Iron ore Coal
Coking/Agglomeration Ironmaking Ironmaking
HIsarna factsheet

FACTS ABOUT HISARNA

Developed by Preheating oven to

Tata Steel and Rio Tinto
The cyclone part (upper part) of the HIsarna
installation has been developed by Tata Steel
in IJmuiden. The lower part, the Hismelt vessel,
has been developed by Rio Tinto. Tata Steel has
full ownership of the patents on the HIsarna
technology.
1,200 degrees Celsius
Before the start of each testing campaign
burners preheat the reactor of the HIsarna
plant to a temperature of about 1,200 degrees
Celsius. Next, a layer of liquid iron is poured
into the bottom of the melting vessel, to
facilitate the start-up of the process.

Ancient Celtic word 1st test: 4th test:

for iron
The name HIsarna is an amalgam of the
ancient Celtic word for iron (‘Isarna’) and the
name of the melting vessel (‘Hismelt’).
75 million euro
investment
So far 75 million euros have been invested in
developing HIsarna. The partner companies
have funded 60% of this investment, while
40% consist of support from the European
Union, the Dutch Economics Ministry and the
European Research Fund For Coal and Steel.
Revolutionary
breakthrough technology
HIsarna is a revolutionary breakthrough
technology. Its impact may be compared to
the introduction of contiuous casting in the
20th Century, which has made the process
steps of ingot casting and rolling redundant
(they were virtually completely phased out in
the steel industry over a period of 30 years).
Annual production of
60,000 tonnes of liquid iron
The maximum production capacity of the
current HIsarna pilot plant: 60,000 tonnes
of liquid iron a year. As a comparison: Blast
Furnace 7 in IJmuiden produces 10,000 tonnes
of liquid iron a day.
theory into practice
The first HIsarna test campaign: April - June
2011. Objective: showing that theory works
in practice, i.e. producing liquid iron without
preprocessing of raw materials. Objective
achieved. First successful tap of liquid iron: 20
May 2011.
2nd test:
stable process
Second test campaign HIsarna: 17 October -
4 December 2012. Objective: producing liquid
iron for a longer, sustained period. Objective
was met. Production at 80% of design capacity
for periods of 8 to 12 hours. In the last run
full design capacity of 8 tonnes per hour was
reached.
3rd test:
HIsarna steel
Third test HIsarna: 28 May - 28 June 2013.
Objective: producing liquid iron for sustained
periods and running tests with various kinds of
raw materials. Objective was met. For the first
time ever steel was made from HIsarna liquid
iron.
sustained production
Fourth test HIsarna: 13 May - 29 June 2014.
Objective: sustained, stable production during
several days on end and tests of various kinds
of raw materials. Objective was met.
5th test: 6 month
sustained campaign
The fifth HIsarna test, which has started
in October 2017, is a six-month sustained
campaign. In preparation for this campaign,
the installation has seen a significant overhaul.
A completely new off-gas duct has been
installed, increasing the height of the plant
by more than 10 metres (highest point: 37
metres). Next to the pilot plant a complete
coal grinding and a drying and screening
facility for ore and lime have been constructed.
Closed conveyor belts have been installed to
transport the raw materials from the storage
facility to the installation injection points.
The raw materials storage capacity has been
doubled. On top of that a gas analysis lab has
been added and the electronic monitoring
system has been completely reprogrammed.

For more information, go to: www.tatasteel.nl or www.tatasteeleurope.com